


Flares

by eb18490



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-07 06:55:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13429263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eb18490/pseuds/eb18490
Summary: Au where Lincoln is a guard on the Ark and he meets Octavia in her cell. And then they go to the ground.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This is a story I've had written for a while. Basically, I'm just rewriting The 100 in its entirety, where Octavia and Lincoln meet on the Ark.

The Ark is cruel. They murdered her mother. They executed her brother for helping her mother keep her alive.

And then she meets him. A tall, dark skinned, well built prison guard. Last name is Woods.

At first he doesn’t talk to her. But then she notices some changes.

When her cell mate beats her up to steal her food, he steps in. He gets her meager meal back, and her cell mate is gone, moved to solitary. She also gets medical attention for the black eye and sore jaw that were given.

She’s kind of lonely, being by herself. Mostly she sings softly, old songs that her mother taught her.

The people in the cell next to her pound on the walls to shut her up, and Woods disappears from outside her door, but when he comes back the others are quiet and let her continue.

Her nightmares are constant; almost every night she wakes up in a cold sweat.

Woods steps in, quickly and quietly, and sits down on the floor next to her.

She looks at him, not sure if what she sees in his face as pity.

But they talk. Her, more than him. He prefers to listen. But she learns his name is Lincoln. She learns that he’s three years older than her, twenty, and he learns that she’s getting floated in seven months.

There’s something that attracts her to him, like they were two magnets. Maybe it’s the fact that he

s risking his job, his life to be near her. Or maybe it’s because they seem so alike, and that he understands what her pain feels like.

One night she has another nightmare, something to do with him being killed, and she shrieks in her sleep.

Lincoln crashes in, trying t comfort her but she can’t tell him. She can’t tell him that she’s afraid for him and that he needs to stop sacrificing his life for her. She doesn’t want to think about how in only six months this will all be over, and he’ll forget her, allowing her to become just another one of those prisoners that made his job hell.

But what she doesn’t know is that he won’t forget her. That he can’t forget her; it’s just not possible.

So she cries; not loud, shaking sobs that control her because then they’ll be heard, but soft tears that don’t don’t seem to do anything but fuel her anger towards everyone else; towards the forces that won’t let them be together.

And he holds her, letting her tears wet his uniform, something that she knows he’ll have to cover up later or they’ll be found out.

But they move closer and before she knows it he’s kissing her and she’s kissing him. And it’s surprising because she had always imagined what it would be like to be kissed, but this is nothing like that. No, this is much more meaningful, so much more than she thought it would be.

And then she doesn’t feel alone in this world anymore.

But one night he comes in with regret on his face and she knows to prepare for the worst.

She doesn’t know what it is; his detail could be changing, she could be getting killed six months early, anything.

And he tells her something much worse than anything she’s ever imagined. 100 prisoners are being sent to the ground. He says he got her a spot, but for a price.

She asks him what the price was, and he tells her he has to kill the chancellor, but she’ll be able to get down safely.

They’ve only known each other for a half a year but he feels like her other half and it just abut breaks her. She knows she’s going to die down there, and he’s going to be floated; his body deprive of oxygen and imploding in a matter of seconds.

He seems to know what she’s thinking because he cups her face in his hands the way he does just before a kiss or when he just wants to look into her eyes that he says are just as mesmerizing as the stars in the sky, and he tells her that he’s going to miss her so, so much and that he loves her, and she doesn’t say it but she realizes that maybe she loves him too; it’s not just something she’s been telling herself lately.

And two days later she wakes up in the morning and he didn’t come the night before so she’s concerned, and a gruff looking guard takes her arm roughly while a woman with reddish hair clips a bracelet to her wrist.

She grimaces in pain because it feels like hundreds of tiny needles are stabbing her, and it feels that way in her heart, too. She’s never going to see Lincoln again, she realizes, and she just wants to tell him that she loves him once, and have him hold her gently like she’s the only thing he needs in his life to live.

Slightly later she’s taken out of her room for the first time in almost a year and she’s surprised at how big the rest of the world feels when the cell is practically all she’s ever known.

And she looks around for him, frightened, until remembering that he’s waiting for the perfect time to shoot, but she hoped he doesn’t, that he’s just sleeping because he has the night shift. She doesn’t need him to sacrifice his life for her.

Her hert pumps wildly in her chest as she’s instructed to strap herself into the seat she’s given; old and worn.

The boys next to her are the ones who yelled at her for singing, one with goggles on his head and the other with an odd haircut, and even though they laugh at each other they glare at her when she looks their way.

And then it’s announced that there’s a minute left until the doors close. She wipes her sweaty palms on her prison jumpsuit that still smells like him and his embraces, and a tear makes its way out of her eye.

But then there’s a scuffle outside the doors, and er heart skips a beat when she hears a gunshot. Someone on a loudspeaker announces that there’s only twenty seconds until launch and she braces, and hears footsteps pounding on the drop ship floor and several people screaming in the hallways.

But it’s too late to turn her head because the doors snap shut and the tiny ship goes into free fall and her head snaps backwards against the wall, hit by tiny shards of metal that seem to be falling from the ceiling.

Within the hour, it’s over, and the prisoners unbuckle, joyously hugging one another.

She unbuckles too, trying to push her way to the door. He’s going to be floated. 

But then she sees him. He’s at the switch for the door, uniform dirty and gun in its holster. Her heart flutters in her chest, seeing him there, opening the door.

And she pushes through, calling for him and he turns, like he’s been expecting her all along.

The door opens and they step out first, tentatively on the dirt, and everyone else watches to see if they're going to die.

But he looks at her and picks her up, spinning her in a circle, hugging her like he's going to lose her at any second. And he puts her down, cupping her face gently, and kisses her.

And for the first time, she tells him she loves him.

Just when she'd thought she'd never have that happiness again, she does.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second part of the story! Enjoy!

It's a few months after they land, and now more of the Ark has come.

She can't do it, can't live with the same people who wanted her to die and with those who murdered her family. It's a burden that she shouldn't have to hold.

So he sacrifices. He agrees to give her a life she deserves; agrees to take her far away from the evils that plague the world.

They leave. They hike through dangerous territory, through streams, anything to get them as far away as possible from their old lives.

They have a few knives she stole just before they left, hidden in her jumpsuit.

He finds a cave, and she's proud of him.

Her nightmares continue, but he's there and holding her at night, long before she wakes up with a scream.

They live peacefully, quietly, until it seems like they've been living like this forever and everything else is just a dream.

Until one day he doesn't come back.

She doesn't know what to do; just stares at the entrance of the cave hoping he will come back with the food he promised. He doesn't return so she goes after him, praying he's not gone forever.

Bugs bite at her exposed skin, branches tangle in her long and thick hair. She falls, but every time she stumbles she gets up again.

And then she comes across people she's never seen before, in menacing clothing and faces that look like they are going to kill her.

She is told that the mountain has him, and they don't know how to get him back. But they offer her shelter.

She agrees, and they take her back to their village.

They teach her how to fight, how to defend herself against the demons that have worked their way into the world.

Her hair is braided and she is given war paint to wear. She looks older; tougher. It's not her.

She's taught to hide behind a mask and that there is no mercy in the art of surviving.

But they treat her as one of their own and she once again feels like she belongs.

But it's been four months since he went missing and she's going to find him. They tell her they will be waiting with open arms and they gift her a horse, wishing her well.

She glimpses him when she rides too close to a mountain fortress. This is where the demons are.

He stares right through her, looking menacing and like she's never seen him before.

His eyes are red, something that scares her.

She calls to him and he comes, but not because he heard his name. He's bloodthirsty.

She wants to break down at the sight of her other half being tortured; imprisoned by something dangerous.

She learns that the demons live inside of us.

Her heart aches as she sees him foaming at the mouth, and then overtaking a man and snapping his neck, and she can barely remember the gentle person who risked his life for them to be happy.

She sees him devour an innocent animal; grabbing it without mercy, and she almost regrets kissing those lips so many times.

She calls to him again, this time with a plan.

He comes. She hits him as hard as she can with the flat part of her sword, knocks her other half out.

She gets his limp body on her horse; not an easy task because she's easily half his weight.

She rides in fear that he's going to wake up and kill her.

Her war paint smears as she cries on the back of her horse. Right now, her demon is the man she loves.

She arrives and is still allowed back into the village. She is told it's her home now.

Her mentor comes, followed by a healer and they take Lincoln off of the back of the horse.

They chain him up, not knowing how to do anything to help him.

He wakes up with a growl and it jolts her awake from her spot on the floor. He lunges but thank God for the restraints because without them she'd be killed.

The healer tries every type of medicine he has but nothing works. So she pleads. Pleads for Lincoln to notice that it's her; give her some kind of sign that he's still human.

Somehow they shock him awake after a seizure and suddenly his eyes aren't so red anymore and the first thing he says is her name.

She cries; cries those heart wrenching sobs she always had to hold back, and he cries too, apologizing and apologizing over and over again.

He tells them about a red drug, how the mountain uses it to treat the strongest that they capture.

He gets better, and the rest of the village accepts him, even eventually sending him on a scouting mission with others to the mountain.

She watches with bated breath as they leave, hoping everything will be alright.

Seven of the eleven sent come back, and he's not one of them. So she hops on her horse and goes to find him, and three scouts come too.

A days ride at most, and she hears rustling in the trees, this time much closer to the mountain. One of the scouts dismounts his horse and follows the noise, sword up, but he doesn't come back.

So she follows his footsteps, shrinking back in horror when she sees him dead, and Lincoln crouching over him.

So she shouts his name and he looks up. 

His eyes are rimmed red, not as much as the last time, but still red and she knows that it's that red drug again.

She asks him why; why he's choosing this over everything they worked so hard to achieve.

He tells her with regret that he can't fight it; that it's who he is now.

And it feels like her heart is being ripped again. And she wonders how he could change so much; turn from a protector to a killer.

So she steps closer and her anger takes over and she punches, hard, her first colliding with his cheek. All she feels is pure fury at this man. Fury because all she wanted was a happy life and now he's turned into something the complete opposite.

She tells him she thought they are fighters; they are supposed to get up when they fall down. She tells him to come back when he's better; he'll know where to find her.

The other two guards pick their friend up gently, laying his limp body on the back of his horse, leading it back to the village.

She mounts her horse, peering one last time as he makes his way through the trees in an unknown direction.

She hears what sounds like his screams in agony, and she knows he's hurting.

When she gets back to the village she is greeted by her mentor. The older woman leads her to the lake a few minutes away, instructing her to wash clean of the dirt and tears.

She feels better after; floating in the water.

The sky darkens and she hurriedly dresses to get back for dinner. Her stomach grumbles, making her struggle to remember the last time she ate.

Octavia walks back, greeted by a boy not much older than her handing her a plate with a piece of deer meat.

She smiles, thanking him and he smiles back.

They sit together that night; warming themselves by the fire pit and talking. He asks for her name and she tells him, and he replies that his is Atom.

That night she has another nightmare, this time much worse than the last. She wakes up in a cold sweat in the tent and cries out. She thinks Lincoln is there and she cries out again, needing his embrace, but he doesn't come.

It pains her because she just needs somebody.

She crawls out of her tent and sees Atom by the fire, throwing stray twigs into it.

She sits next to him in silence, both of them not talking.

He looks at her face, her disheveled hair, and she can feel his gaze linger at her lips.

He leans in, gently, for a kiss, and she jumps. No. No, her heart is elsewhere.

She scrambles back to her tent like a scared rabbit. Tears slide down her face when she knows she needs Lincoln. She needs him like she’s never needed anyone before.

She can imagine him here next to her if she tries hard enough, just like when they sought shelter in their cave.

There’s a longing in her heart to see the drawings he so carefully etched in the walls.

She wants to see his tattoos; the ones on his chest and arms and stomach that he got illegally on the Ark and somehow hid; and she wants to trace the one that spirals from his neck to his ear with her fingertips, marveling at the intricate swirls and patterns that are permanently part of him.

But all she can do is hope that he makes his way back home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the last chapter! This one's a little dark, with a lot of death, so...

She soon realizes that she missed her eighteenth birthday by two months; missed his twenty first by three.

They’ve been on earth for eight months. And it’s been almost half a year since he was taken, two months since she saw him last.

She doesn’t talk much any more, instead focusing all her time and energy on fighting.

She cries when some of Trikru’s people are taken back from the Mountain, severely wounded and scarred for life.

She cries because it reminds her that Lincoln is not back yet, and the Mountain Men turned him into a monster and made her hate him.

Her mentor Indra had allowed her new warpaint, and it is now in the design of the tattoo on Lincoln’s chest, has been for two months, ever since the incident with Atom by the fire.

Until one day someone crashes in through the entrance to the village, falling on the ground, and she almost has a heart attack.

She screams his name, running to him as fast as she can, braids hitting her in the face.

He looks up at her and tells her he’s trying, and she sees that his eyes aren’t red anymore but bloodshot, and she apologizes a million times, his head cradled in her lap and her stroking his head and her sobbing how much she loves him.

And when the last thing he says before passing out is that he loves her, she thinks they’re going to be okay after all.

The healer, Nyko, stitches him up while he’s unconscious. Somewhere through, she grabs Lincoln’s hand and he squeezes it, even though he's supposed to be unconscious, giving her reassurance.

When he wakes up she starts crying, and as he sits up he holds her face in the special way she’s needed for so long, telling her she’s forgiven and of course he loves her; he’d have to be a fool not to.

But she’s not sure how much she believes. He doesn’t kiss her, like he used to.

She asks him why and he turns away, embarrassed but she asks again and finally he breaks, with the same expression on his face as when she punched him in the woods.

What he says breaks her heart again, that he saw that boy going to kiss her that night, and it dawns on her that he turned away too quickly to see that she ran.

So she musters up her strength and tells him, and he looks much less in agony.

He says he’s sorry for ever doubting her.

And then he gently holds her chin, and she kisses him for the first time in months.

It is beautiful, and reminds her that for the first time in months, she is home.

On later nights their tent is a welcome sanctuary when she has nightmares. He’s there to hold her.

But she notices that he’s beginning to have them too; some nights he’ll wake up sweating and murmuring in his sleep that he won’t take the red drug, he won’t; that he needs to escape to get back to his love, and sometimes he punches the ground in his sleep in pure fury at whoever is in his dreams.

So once again they balance each other out; him holding her and vice versa, their hands often entwined in their sleep.

At first he’s not sure if he should be trusted with a weapon; he says that sometimes he still sees red. But both Octavia and Indra convince him to pick up a sword.

She teaches him how to fight, and he is given warpaint that Octavia starts to mimic with hers. No one complains, although sometimes when she passes Atom he looks at her like he wonders what she could have ever seen in Lincoln.

And then Trikru goes into battle.

They fight against the men from the mountain, and Octavia goes, Lincoln at her side. She tells him he doesn’t have to come but he insists, knowing that they both want to destroy the people who wrecked their almost perfect lives.

Trikru leaves the mountain victorious, and they relish in the fact that their demons are gone forever.

As the warriors ride back to the village she sees something unbelievable and she’s not sure if it’s real or just a result of her not eating for a few days and not sleeping either.

But then she remembers a rumor from the Ark, the people they sent down alone, death by earth.

She thinks maybe it’s real after all; her brother walking quickly with that girl from the drop ship in his arms. The Clarke Griffin girl.

He talks to one of the guards, who points him to the healer’s hut when she overhears something about the girl being injured in the battle.

Nyko comes, taking Clarke in his arms and quickly taking her to be treated.

Bellamy runs to his little sister, squeezing her in his arms.

He tells her he loves her and he thought she was dead and never made it down to earth.

She’s crying now, but she manages to ask him how he got down here in the first place because she thought he was dead for almost two years.

He says it was supposed to be death by earth, but one of the other groups found him, Azgeda, the Ice Nation. He says he’s living in Arkadia now, with the rest of the people from the Ark, and he begs her to come back with him because he doesn’t want to lose his only family again.

She first asks him why he brought Clarke here, because she thinks it’s something more than just him taking her to get help; he could have taken her an extra mile or so to her mother at Arkadia.

He sheepishly admits that he loves Clarke, and he thinks she loves him. 

But then he asks Octavia again to please come back so he doesn’t have to worry about her anymore and after she says she can't she makes the mistake of looking over at Lincoln who's currently tying the laces on his boots.

Bellamy's face turns into a frown. He asks if Lincoln's the reason she wants to stay with the woods clan and she says yes.

He tells her she shouldn't go near him; he's dangerous. She asks why, telling her brother all that Lincoln did for her, leaving out the red drug and kissing.

He tells her that Lincoln killed a man on the Ark when he was younger, and the boy's father was floated for instructing his son to do so.

He says that Lincoln did plenty of illegal things on the Ark, like stealing medicine for his mother, who was also floated because of him. And how he somehow got tattoos, which were highly illegal but there was still a black market for them as of when the Ark died.

He says that he heard rumors of how Lincoln shot and killed the chancellor to protect a girl he loved.

But Octavia doesn't care. She tells her brother that they are all killers now, and that if she was sick on the Ark he'd definitely steal medicine for her. As for the tattoos, there's nothing wrong with them; they're beautiful.

And she says that she was the girl Lincoln protected; he protected her knowing his life was on the line.

Her brother does nothing but tell her to be careful and she knows where to find him if she ever needs to come back, and he kisses her on the forehead and hugs her, saying he hopes they meet again and he loves her, and he walks over to Lincoln and says a few words and then walks into the medical hut.

Lincoln walks over to her, arms at his sides.

She asks what her brother told him, and he says he was told to keep her safe, but then he tells her that he was warned the vice chancellor has a kill order on his head if he goes back to Arkadia. A shoot to kill, not a shoot to disarm.

She sighs, telling him they are at least welcome with Trikru.

She watches her brother leave with the still unconscious Clarke Griffin in his arms. He glances back but at least she knows her brother will be safe.

Over the next few months everything is okay in the village; Lincoln building a small house for the two of them to share. It reminds her of the cave, safe and beautiful.

But then he asks her if she wants to go to the boat people; away from the constant fighting and fearing for their lives during battles between the clans.

She doesn't want to go, not now. She likes being a warrior.

One day she agrees, because he is her home and that is all that matters, and they can always come back if need be.

The next morning they head out with a small backpack, knowing nothing except the direction they're suppose to go.

The sun heats her back as they hike, forcing her to wrap her jacket around her waist. Lincoln barely seems fazed, hardly even panting.

It turns out to be a slightly bad idea that she took off her jacket; the sun burned her badly.

When they stop for the night she hisses, recoiling in pain as she tries to lie on top of the blanket on the ground. Her arms are sore and bright red; she's still not so used to the sun like those born on the ground.

Lincoln asks her if she knows what he did on the Ark; what he did that he deserved to be in lockup himself.

She says yes; her brother told her.

He asks if she regrets running away from safety with a murderer.

She says no; she'd be a hypocrite if she did.

He asks her how many she's killed.

She responds with twelve. Or so she was able to count during battle. A burden she'll have to live with until her last breath.

She finally closes her eyes to sleep, head on Lincoln's chest, and he puts his arm over her stomach protectively before both of them are asleep.

She wakes up in the middle of the night alone, sending her into a panic. She sits up quickly, and her heart stops racing when she sees Lincoln tossing some extra sticks into the fire.

She knows everything is okay, but still can only fall asleep when he leans down to kiss her and lies back down next to her.

The morning is bright, and when she wakes up he's already awake. They don't talk much; instead going on their way as quickly as possible. It's a seven day trip, if they're lucky.

By the third day, her war paint has smudged all over her face, mixing with dirt and dust. Her legs feel weak, like rubber, but Lincoln needs his strength so he can't carry her.

In the end it takes them eight days, arriving on a boat at midday.

They are met by a fierce looking woman with wild hair, and she introduces herself as Luna, the leader of Floukru.

Lincoln tells her about why they came, and the woman tells them that they are welcome. 

They are shown to a room deep in the oil rig, one just double the size of Octavia's prison cell on the Ark.

Octavia doesn't like it on the oil rig. Sure, the ocean is fascinating, but she longs to have solid ground on her feet again, to be surrounded by trees instead of metal again. And she can't exactly stomach fish, the primary staple of Floukru. She'd much rather eat deer or berries.

But Lincoln seems to like it on the rig, so she sacrifices because he hasn't been this happy in a while.

And then he asks her to marry him, but she hesitates. Sure, she loves him, but she doesn't want to stay on the oil rig for the rest of her life.

So she tells him not yet. When they get back to Trikru. But not yet.

She finds out she is going to have a child, and this is when she makes the decision to join her people once more.

They make the trip back to Trikru shortly after; being away for almost a year.

All of Trikru meets them with open arms, Indra actually wiping away tears after missing them.

After they've settled into their old house again, Lincoln asks again.

And she accepts.

The Commander is there to perform the ceremony, with Indra and Nyko acting as their seconds. A drizzle of rain falls on everyone at the ceremony. Octavia's given a long skirt to wear over black leggings, and everyone agrees she looks beautiful in her braids and war paint.

Then they have a son, Augustus, named after Bellamy, and they are so happy. 

But their happiness doesn't last.

The village is met by Azgeda's enemy fire late one night, Octavia scooping Augustus up and running as fast as possible back to their cabin. Lincoln's out on another scouting mission.

An arrow comes whizzing out of one of the trees, right in front of Octavia and straight into the back of her baby.

She shrieks, falling to the ground as an arrow hits her in the leg, trying to protect the baby who is probably dead in her arms.

Nyko comes running up behind her, shielding her as she gets to her feet. He shoves her into her house, slamming the door just as another arrow almost comes flying.

He picks the baby up, checking for a pulse. He shakes his head, handing the baby back to her. Nyko pulls the arrow out of her leg, putting it to his mouth and spitting it out in horror. It's poisoned.

He tells her to hold on, running to get his medical kit.

It's the longest half minute of her life.

He comes back, sweating, with a bowl of the antidote for the poison. He forces her to drink it, and once again takes the baby out of her arms.

Augustus is barely breathing, and all Nyko does is snap off the extra part of the arrow and give him back to his mother.

He stops breathing, eyes shut and glazed over. He goes limp in her arms, his skin cold and clammy.

And it hits her that her child is dead. It hurts. Hurts more than when her mother was killed and when she thought her brother was dead, hurts more than when the guards beat her up when she resisted her arrest; resisted being thrown in the cell. Hurts more than when her cell mate beat her up to steal her food; hurts more than when she was stabbed with a sword during battle. Hurts more than when she was shot in the abdomen during the battle at the mountain. Hurts more than losing Lincoln and then losing him again. Because she can't get Augustus back; he's gone forever.

Indra comes in, hearing her wailing, helping Nyko get Octavia onto the bed.

Indra hovers over the three month old baby, touching his tiny forehead; telling him in a whisper that his life is over, Trikru's way of sending their dead back to the earth. And then she turns, her face angry, telling them that a rider has been sent out to the scouts, alerting them of the attack and to come back quickly.

Octavia wails, screams on the top of her lungs. Tears rain down her face, blurring her vision and making her choke.

Lincoln rushes in some time later, his only news that Octavia's been hit.

He stands, stunned, seeing Octavia clutching the dead body of his son.

He walks over to the bed, sitting next to her, reaching out for the baby.

She reluctantly hands her baby over, still sobbing loudly.

Lincoln cradles the child in his large hands, crying, like Octavia's never seen before.

Sure, he's teared up a few times; when Octavia's been injured, when he's trying to battle the remnants of the reaper drug.

But nothing's prepared her for the rage of emotion that comes flowing out of Lincoln.

He hands the baby's body back to Octavia, and walks out the door, screaming. Screaming if only he'd been there earlier he could have protected them; screaming how he's going to kill every single one of those damn Ice Nation warriors; screaming so much that Nyko comes back and has to force Lincoln inside so as not to wake those injured or sleeping.Lincoln comes back to his senses shortly after, still crying; holding Octavia as she sobs into his chest; holding her as she clutches the tiny dead body of one of the two people she loves the most.

They have the funeral for the baby the next day; along with the ten others who perished from the poisoned arrows.

Many of the people in the village cry a little when the youngest child of the village is given the traditional Trikru funeral; his little body turned to ash.

Octavia refuses to talk to anyone when they get back to their little house. She won't even talk to Lincoln.

It's like there's a hole in her heart and it can never be replaced.

Slowly, they start to get better. But every day goes by with Octavia half expecting to hear the mewing cry of a baby, half expecting the cradle to still be there by the bed and her child is just asleep.

She's 20 and a half now. Still a warrior; that's all she immerses herself in so as to stop the pain of her life lost.

She puts her war paint on in fury; walks with authority. No one is safe from her blade except for Trikru.

People start calling her Skairipa. Death from above; and that hurts.

Azgeda launches another war and both she and Lincoln go. And she's not to be reasoned with. She wants every last one of them dead and gone; their souls forgotten on the battle field.

She sees Bellamy again, and he tells her he's going to marry Clarke. He asks about his nephew and she can barely reply. But she tells him, and Bellamy looks both like he's going to cry and like he's going to kill everyone from Azgeda that he can get his hands on.

The battle helps her a little bit. She doesn't have to think about what could have been; just what she has to do now and now alone for her immediate survival.

But then she has to go home again, something she can't bear to do. So Lincoln gives their house away to a couple who recently lost theirs in a fire, building a new one towards the outskirts on the south side; nothing but a small stream and a sunrise.

She's eternally grateful. But they keep the tiny slab of wood with Augustus's handprint because they want to remember him. They hang it just over the door on the inside of the house.

Octavia's nightmares become more and ore frequent; just when she thought the opposite. Now it's Azgeda, killing everything she holds close.

She wakes up in tears, sweating, still held by Lincoln, and she asks him if he's ever regretted loving her.

He holds her face gently, kissing her in reassurance because he loves her. He says no, he's never regretted loving her, ever. He's always loved her and always will, regardless of what happens. Even when they call her Grounder Pounder, even when she breaks down in the night.

One night after a nightmare he tells her to get dressed, and she does, wiping tears from her sweat stained face.

They walk south for around a half hour, until they can no longer see the village.

They come to the edge of a cliff; it looking like the land split in two during an earthquake many years ago.

He tells her to scream.

And she understands.

So she lets out a scream, louder than ever, and at that moment it feels like she's slaying her demons because she's not afraid.

And then she starts to cry, mostly happy tears, because maybe now something can go right for once.

It feels as if a weight has been taken off her shoulders.

They head back to the village, warmed by the heat from the fire still in the fireplace. She falls asleep in his arms, feeling more reassured than she has in months.

She continues fighting, and it's a way she heals.

It's almost a year later but she learns they're having a second child and she panics, because maybe she won't be as good of a mother because of what happened; maybe something will happen to this baby too.

Lincoln says he's afraid too, but once their child is born and everything is fine, they can breathe easy.

Bellamy and Clarke come to Trikru territory to visit as there's still a kill order on Lincoln, but that's fine because neither of them ever wants to step foot in there again and that goes for their daughter as well, and Bellamy cries again because he's so happy.

Octavia can't help beaming when she has her child.

She's a tiny baby, and they name her Lily, after Lincoln's favorite flower and his mother's name.

Octavia can barely believe she's holding another child in her arms.

Lincoln looks down to the sleeping baby in her arms, and kisses Octavia again, cradling her face in his palms.

Then he picks up the tiny bundle that is Lily, and gently kisses her forehead, beaming as she makes a little yawn.

Octavia couldn't have been more grateful to the guard she met on the Ark so long ago.


End file.
